Snake in the Glass

This book is a really great easy read. Characters from the glassblowing series continue to evolve and the "who-dun-it" part kept me reading until the end! This time the focus on detail was more on altering gems with heat... to produce a desire effect in the stones. Since I've read about "treated" gemstones... I found it very interesting! The setting is still in Arizona with great descriptions.

I love all the glass blowing mysteries. This one is great. Em is a good character. This one has huge twists. You will love it.

Sarah Atwell's SNAKE IN THE GLASS provides a mystery revolving around glassblower Emmeline, who not only blows glass but investigates the murder of a stranger who has begged to use her kiln for an experimental gem treatment. A fine pick for lending libraries strong in murder mysteries.

I felt a little guilty when I wrote my critical review of Atwell's last book in her Glassblowing Mystery series, because I so wanted that book to be better than it was. So I'm VERY relieved to shout Huzzah! Atwell -- and heroine Em Dowell, who owns a glassblowing shop in Tucson -- are back on track with a fun, engaging mystery novel. In this third novel in the series, Em's brother Cameron is moving to Tucson to be near his new ladylove. Except a situation arises in the first few pages that causes Cam to stomp off in a huff, mad at the world. At first she isn't concerned, but when his absence stretches to days... Meanwhile, a Mysterious Stranger wants to use Em's glassblowing equipment for an odd-sounding experiment with gems... peridot, in particular. Eventually these events are tied to the discovery of a body in the desert, and Em, naturally, has to find out what's going on. Atwell is doing a great job with these characters (and the other folks you've met in previous books, starting with Through a Glass, Deadly) and they're growing in a thoroughly nice way. The situation is entirely plausible, or at least I was able to suspend my disbelief enough to not-question anything while I was reading Snake in the Glass. Admittedly there's more here about gems than about glass, in this book (more glass! more glass!) but that was okay because I learned plenty of neat stuff. You probably DO want to read the earlier books in the series, but the book could work as a standalone. This is a fun, quick, relaxing read. Completely enjoyable.